The share of hydroelectric, solar and wind power in total capacity expansion reached a new record of 81% last year.
New data released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows that renewables have continued to grow and gain momentum despite a challenging global environment. At the end of 2021, global renewable energy production capacity stood at 3,064 gigawatts (GW), an increase in the stock of these energies of 9.1%.
Although hydroelectric power accounted for the largest share of total renewable generation capacity in the world with 1,230 GW, the rapport Renewable Capacity Statistics 2022 from IRENA shows that solar and wind continued to dominate new generation capacity. Together, these two technologies contributed 88% of the share of all new renewable capacity in 2021. Solar capacity leads the way with a 19% increase, followed by wind power, which boosted its generation capacity by 13%.
“This sustained progress is further testimony to the resilience of renewable energies. The excellent performance recorded last year offers countries the opportunity to benefit to an even greater extent from the many socio-economic advantages of renewable energy. However, despite this encouraging global trend, our new publication Perspectives for global energy transitions shows that the energy transition is far from being fast enough or widespread enough to avoid the disastrous consequences of climate change”, says Francesco La Camera, Director General of IRENA.
“The current energy crisis confirms that the world can no longer rely on fossil fuels to meet its energy demand. Funds pouring into fossil fuel power plants produce undesirable results, both for the survival of a nation and for the survival of the planet. Renewable energy should become the norm worldwide. We need to muster the political will to accelerate the 1.5C Scenario.”
To meet climate goals, renewables must grow at a faster rate than energy demand. However, despite a significant increase in the use of renewable energies for electricity production, many countries have not yet reached this stage.
In 2021, 60% of new capacity was added in Asia, bringing total renewable capacity to 1.46 terawatts (TW). China was the main contributor, adding 121 GW to the mainland’s new capacity. Europe and North America, led by the United States of America, occupy second and third place respectively, with an addition of 39 GW for the first and 38 GW for the second. Renewable energy capacity increased by 3.9% in Africa and 3.3% in Central America and the Caribbean. Despite steady growth, the pace observed in these two regions is much slower than the world average, which underlines the need to strengthen international cooperation in order to optimize electricity markets and stimulate massive investments in these regions.
Main trends by technology:
- Hydroelectric power: its growth increased steadily in 2021, with the commissioning of several large projects having been postponed until this year.
- Wind energy: in 2021, its expansion continued, but at a slower pace than in 2020. (+93 GW against +111 GW the previous year).
- Solar Power: With the increase in new capacity in all major regions of the world in previous years, total global solar capacity now exceeds wind power.
- Bioenergy: net capacity expansion accelerated in 2021 (+10.3 GW compared to +9.1 GW in 2020).
- Geothermal energy: geothermal capacity recorded exceptional growth in 2021, with an addition of 1.6 GW.
- Off-grid electricity: Off-grid capacity increased by 466 MW in 2021 (+4%) to reach 11.2 GW.